I’m in need of a cargo van and was wondering which ones I should be looking at and which ones I shouldn’t. I know some of you like Och have experience with these and was wondering which manufactures people recommend. We looked at a Dodge Ramaster and the leases are terrible, over $1,000 month. Sprinters look reasonable. Any recommendations?

 

Sprinter. Not even a comparison, I will never consider anything else. There are just so many little thing in it that make your work easier. The Promaster is a FWD rebadged Fiat, and its a real POS. When the Sprinter first arrived in the US it was actually sold under Dodge make since MB and Chrysler had a partnership, but then they went their separate ways. My old Sprinter lasted for 5 years without a single issue, I sold it to my plumber to replace his old E250 and he can't be happier.

I also have a Metris cargo, and it is also excellent if you are looking for a smaller van.

 

Thanks, that's the information I was looking for. I wasn't sure if a Merc. Sprinter would be reliable so I was a little hesitant. We also haven't heard of Metris so I will look into that. Any thoughts on the Ford Transit?

 

The Transit is also great, it is much better than the Econoline series it replaced. The Transit actually came to the US after the Sprinter. A friend of mine has a 2017 Transit 250, he's been very happy with it.

Regarding reliability, my Sprinter mechanic constantly sees them with over 500k on the clock.

 

slightly off topic, would Metris Passenger be a good option to go if you want a more rugged van for family adventurous road trips and camping trips?

 

Not really, its was intended as taxi and cargo, and not very well suited as a traditional minivan. If you want more rugged, why not look at SUVs or maybe even the passenger sprinter?

 

we already have a RX in our household, looking for something that can tow a small boat and seat 6 or 7 for road trips. is Metris truck based? it may server our need if the kids don't mind the rough ride. Sprinter is out of our price range.

 

Yes, the Metris is truck based and RWD, I believe its a unibody/bof hybrid, so its quote rugged. On the other hand the rear seats are very "bus" like and there are not many amenities for the passengers, at least in the taxi version. You should check it out at the dealership if it suits your needs.

 

Thanks for the info on the sprinter. That puts me at ease when we'll decide to get a sprinter camper van in the future.

Are the guts MB or dodge?
I know that MB's engine/tranny are stout, it's their damn electricals and other components that nag you to death....I have experience so I know

 

Everything MB, and it never had any issues. It is a lot simpler than fancier MB models. As far as I know, Mercedes has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, truck manufacturing plants in the world, and their trucks from the humble Metris to the 18 wheelers have a solid reputation.

 

No offense, but with all due respect, even with reliability-questions aside, I don't think I could ever have anything as a Daily-Driver that looked like this...........



As to my recommendations, I agree with Och......give the Ford Transit a look. I have never owned one, and Consumer Reports doesn't have reliability-data on them, but a lot of businesses operate them, and seem to be satisfied.

 

OP didn't say it was a daily driver. but if one has to transport a lot of stuff, the options become few.

 

LOL yeah definitely not a daily driver. We are leaning towards the Ford Transit.

 

Perhaps I am a bit biased, because before I got the Sprinter I had a Ford E350 which made made me question the sanity of Ford engineers. Don't get me wrong, I do have a soft spot for it as started right up after hurricane Sandy, while still being submerged in water, got me the hell out of the war zone, and for the next few weeks it was my source of heat, electricity and transportation. But it had so many flaws that show how little Ford engineers cared for the poor souls that drove and worked out of these piles of crap. For starters, it had no cabin filter so anytime you turned on the AC or heat it blew a ton of dust in your face, and the interior was always dusty. Then take the rear door opening - it just a tad bit under 48 inches, while the US standard for everything is 48 inches - sheetrock, plywood, sheet metal, etc. So everything had to be brought inside on an angle, and me being 6'4" these ergonomics sometimes made me wish I was a midget, lol. It also had no mechanism to keep the rear doors in the open position, they were free to flap in the wind, and would always close on me when I was trying to carry something heavy into the back, so I had to resort to a combination of cursing, using my knee, head and shoulder to fight the door open while using the bumper to temporary rest the object I was carrying in.

The Sprinter was actually designed with respect for its operator - it has a cabin filter, comfortable seats and driving position, roof height suitable for cargo and humans, and mechanism to hold the rear doors open at 90° and 180°, and it is just generally much better built. I know that the Transit is much better than its Econoline predecessor, much more comparable to the Sprinter, but considering that Ford was selling the miserable Econoline for decades without any concern for the comfort of its customers, and only got their act together when the Sprinter was introduced to the US market. I mean for decades and several generations of the Econoline they couldn't make the damn rear door opening a couple of inches taller.

 

We loved our Sprinter, and they definitely are pricey, but also by far have the best resale value, which is probably why they're able ot . Same on the Metris.

Metris is a great tweener size. Just wish they brought the 4Matic version to the States. As is the Metris would be a bit lacking in passenger duty (although they can be had with power sliding doors!), but starting to see some outfitters work with them a bit more for nicer interiors.

New Transit is definitely a world different from Econoline. Our electrician swears by them, but also just had a parts issue with his newest van this year. Ford couldn't get the part (not semi conductor related) and couldn't fix their van for the first two months after having bought it. It definitely soured him a bit on them, but hard to make the switch since they've got Transits for everything else, all their racks and even vehicle wrap set ups etc are all done.